Private Oh. You.

[Eira Talon]

The girl flinch, his words sharp and biting. No one had ever spoke to her that way before, and it showed in her expression. Her lips parted in the whisper of a gasp, incredulous flashing through her. But it wasn’t the audacity of him speaking to her that way that got to her. No, it was a much more simple, innocent thing that left her reeling.

His words.

“Excuse me?” The exclamation slipped from her lips like a liquid whisper, the bite of rejection sending her walled off expression crumbling. He had called her fighting disappointing. This was no different than calling her that herself. Remarkably, he’d find he hit a wound. While Srina would respond with sharper words or a witty comeback, Eira took what he said at exactly face value. No word games to be gleaned from her.

She was well and truly insulted.

“But you cheated,” she countered, almost a plea. Her voice missed the proper steal. Ever the youngest, Eira lived her life getting orders. Not giving them. She placed down the glass, sitting ridged. “Which it’s why you don’t know her at all— she would never-“

Cheat. Take away from the moment. Steal Eira’s chance to voice needs through the dance.

Her voice fled her in the moment. She could only stare, hurt and incredulous.


(Phone post)

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Well now he felt bad.​

​

His face lost that harsh edge, the witty scrutiny that threatened to bite back at any second - and the once penetrating, violent eyes of the Sith lord turned soft again; though they looked away from her as he let out a slight sigh. He forgot himself… Not because he had to respect Eira, but because… he wanted to.​

​

He forgot that she wasn’t a threat to him. She wasn’t the Sith that he had to defend himself from. She was just… a girl. New to this world of theirs.​

​

“I didn’t cheat, Eira.”, he offered softly.​

​

“I fought in my own way. An echani knows that not everyone fights like you do, but you still must overcome.”, he offered her, gentle and authoritative, almost like a father giving a lesson. His eyes glanced to her for a moment, and held her gaze - far more inviting than it was before.​

​

“... And I’m sorry. For what I said.”, he idled, his words coming like tar on a wall.​

​

“I have fought with Srina… Without the Force.”, he said with a cock of his lips.​

​

“We know eachother… well.”​

​

Eira Talon​

 

[Eira Talon]

Eira snuffed, sitting silent and still. It would be hard to gleam what she was feeling, she herself did not know. There was confusion, over who this man was and what his mysterious relationship to her sister was truly like.

Incredulation, over being spoken down to. Jealousy, that he might actually know her sister better than she did. That was nothing new, though, only hard to swallow. In the end there was mostly just wounded frustration. He had overpowered her. He had out dueled her. He knew her culture well enough, apparently, to be able to quote that lesson to her.

'An echani knows that not everyone fights like you do, but you still must overcome.'

"How?" She countered, her frustration seeping out into words. "How could I have stopped that? I can't touch it. I can't dodge it. I can't even see it." Her words, while sharp, held an edge to genuine curiosity. These were not rhetorical questions meant for a banter. They were mysteries that demanded answers. Now.

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

For a moment, Maliphant just watched her - his lips piercing as he tried to understand to what limit she had been taught, and what Srina was willing to have her Sister be taught. Still, guilt riddled his emotions in that moment, and… Whether he knew the difference or not, he could tell she was frustrated, hurt, and she looked dangerously like Srina. Perhaps that was more than enough reason alone to have sympathy for the girl.​

​

Gently, he set his drink down and slowly pushed seat back to stand. His words came with some authority, though soft in their own way;​

​

“Eira, come here.”, he commanded as he moved to stand in the middle of the office where nothing stood. He’d point infront of him where he wanted her to stand. Even if she was against it, he’d wait for a few moments while she would find her place.​

​

“Now… You’re echani.”, he said as he rested a hand on each of her shoulders.​

​

“You fight through sight, to feeling the body. Even now, you can feel what I feel; if only slightly.”, and she would. A slight sadness, careful and elusive, but it was there; but past that there was a sleeping beat of some great nature that breathed long and heavy.​

​

“The Force isn’t something you can touch, see, or dodge.”, he offered to her, “Much in contrast to what you have been taught - but it can be stopped.”​

​

“Close yours eyes. Don’t think about your five senses. Focus on another; one that can feel something more - that constant premonition in your fights, that which keeps you ahead of your opponent.”​

​

And though his connection, he would give her a touch of his sensitivity; for only a moment. She was sensitive in her own right, but Maliphant didn’t have the time at the moment to teach her how to feel the Force through her own means; but he would make sure she could feel it not matter what with his next moves. Much to the chagrin of some poor Force Users elsewhere in the building and city, he imagined.​

​

While her eyes were closed, he closed his own and slowly let the shackles of his aura unwind. In droves, waves that began to wash away from him in a trickle then a rush ran rampant through her senses; and for perhaps the first time, she could sense his presence through the Force alone. Heavy, dark… and ever dangerous.​

​

For the briefest of moments, it’d feel as though she were going to drown in it, slowly cutting off her comfort - her ability to survive. Yet, as soon as it began, it was gone, and Maliphant slowly brought it all back within him. A sigh, and he let go as he looked Eira over, making sure she wasn’t… bothered.​

​

“You use the Force to cancel the Force, Eira. All you need to do is learn how to handle it.”​

​

Eira Talon​

 

[Eira Talon]

Eira shivered, her shoulders going up like hackles as Maliphant belayed his aura to her. Srina had taught her a thing or two. A simple tutor on Eshan had taught her even less. She was familiar enough with the force to understand what he did with her. Resisting, however?

He'd feel a flickering attempt.

She pulled back from him when it passed, she couldn't help but to. Srina had begun to teach her how to protect her mind, but it had done nothing against the onslaught he had just presented her with. It confused her-- no, overwhelmed her.

No, it frustrated her.

She didn't like realizing she was so dwarfed in skill. That showed on her face as she tried to keep herself calm. Her chest heaved. Her hair stood on end. Her eyes were dark and furious as they looked between them both, seeking out words that did not easily come.

“You use the Force to cancel the Force, Eira. All you need to do is learn how to handle it.”​

Eira Talon​

"Show-Show me again," she practically growled, stepping back towards him.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

For a moment, Maliphant was taken aback; mostly due to her seeming dichotomy in feeling. She appeared angry, overwhelmed, and hawty - but when she stepped forward to ask him to do it again, he couldn’t help but cock his brow. Confused, he rested a hand on her shoulder again.​

​

“Smaller, but I’ll do it again.”, he offered quietly.​

​

Once more, the shackles and chains that binded his nature released - and Eira would feel it once more. That trickling fear, like a thousand voices crying out in death exuded from him; and the room felt more like the choking ichor of a leviathan than a man - and certainly not one that carried the beauty that he did, nearly Echani in himself. He was sure she would try and resist that sensation, to cancel it out - and he would make no effort to stop it; rather he would encourage it, and the moment he sensed it, he would try and show her mind the easiest way to channel it.​

​

Even if she didn’t, he would stop shortly after and pull it back. He sighed, let go, and took a step back;​

​

“Did you feel it this time? Find what you were looking?”​

​

Eira Talon​

 

[Eira Talon]

Barely. Sorta. A little.

Her chest continued to heave, the resistance he would have felt that time would have more noticeable than the last, but just as ineffective as before. The mind was not as easy to flex as the body. She was discovering that, as of late.

A hand come up to mindlessly rub at her arm, smoothing the hairs back down. She let out a shuddering breath, looking back up to him.

"Can my sister do it?" She demanded, not answering his question.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

For a moment, Maliphant wanted to lie to her - but realized, it wasn’t really poignant to do so. Nor was there truly a point; and so he simply sighed as Eira rubbed at her arm, shuddering from the pressure. His lips curled into a slight frown as he turned away to grab his drink once more - hoping to at least drink what was left of it before this turned any more serious.​

​

“Yes, Eira - Srina can. She’s trained under Darth Metus for years; and I can only imagine he was skilled enough to impart that much upon her.”, he offered before turning around to almost sit on the desk, though leaning was far more an appropriate term.​

​

“Is that why you’re here? To outdo your sister?”​

​

Eira Talon​

 

[Eira Talon]

“No,” Eira snuffed immediately, as if appalled. Or insulted. However she sat with his question for a moment or two more, then added almost begrudgingly. “Well. Yes? But not really...”

Eloquent, she knew. She took a stumbling step back from him, dropping into a pile back in the chair. The steel he had face at the start of the encounter had started to leave her, the girl slumping under the pressure of what she thought was a horrible day.

“I am here for her to train me. She is suppose to make me powerful. Unstoppable. Like she is.” They were not the words either had used in conversation, Eira was certain to never speak so flippantly to Srina. Ever since leaving home Eira had lost what support system she had had. She use to to think she didn’t want to talk to her father. Or Sebastian. Or even mother. Now with no one to talk to at all, she found herself eager to talk for the first time.

Maliphant was the unwitting recipient of that.

“It is obviously not working,” she grumbled, looking down to her hands. They were callous— used to hard work and weapons. Her whole body was, she had spent her life honing every aspect of herself into a finely tuned weapon. How could she overlook her mind?

 

[Darth Empyrean]

When she sat, Maliphant didn’t move - instead watching with some gratuity. She was losing that hard edge, and in turn so was he; as he couldn’t help himself when faced with such arrogant pride. It reminded him too much of Imperia, of the various Masters that once controlled him. He offered little more than a ‘Hmm’, and sat his drink down.​

​

“Nobody is unstoppable.”, he said with a quiet frown.​

​

“In time, you could certainly be all the warrior she is - and more. You just need to give yourself a chance to blossom into that…”, Maliphant sighed.​

​

“Simple, and easy, Eira. Just… don’t be hard on yourself.”, he sighed again.​

​

Eira Talon​

 

[Eira Talon]

She was trying. She was just so impatient.

She huffed, her shoulders dropping. Maliphant would find himself faced with the same side of Eira that had swayed Srina into taking her on, the girl falling into a sense of defeat. It wasn’t a pity party, but a real sense of hopelessness. Like the world had taken away her control and all she could do was sit and exist in the confines that life had provided her.

It was a fair different image to her older sister— Srina knew who she was in this world, while Eira did not.

She hated it.

“...She’s not coming back today, is she?” She asked, despite knowing the answer. Srina’s work was Srina’s work, and while the woman had made a large effort to balance Eira’s expectations with her own life’s demands, Srina was an Exarch.

Eira had gotten dressed for nothing.

Or undressed, depending on the perspective.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“I’m… not sure.”, he sighed.​

​

He knew the life of an Exarch was a busy one, and Maliphant knew it as much as anyone else. Many a time he had far less time alone with Srina than he hoped for - and were it not for their Force Connection, he doubted he would have much time at all besides business. At least he could appreciate that much.​

​

“Here, Eira-”, Maliphant said with a slight groan. In his hand he lifted a small hilt - seamlessly shiny in its design, with no discernable buttons or manipulation.​

​

“Take this. It’s…”, Maliphant sighed again. Generosity made him feel odd, even if he had a reason for a Talon to like him.​

​

“... an old weapon I haven’t used nearly enough. It won’t activate unless you can manipulate its internal mechanisms - but it will give you easier access to the Force. It draws it in, and makes you stronger.”, he said with a smile as he gave it to her.​

​

“Be careful - its an invisible blade; but it’ll help you fight.”​

​

Elise​

 

[Eira Talon]

Eira blinked softly, taking the weapon in her hands. Its smooth surface was cool to her touch, seamless under her nimble fingers that searched for its opening hatch. He had told her it possessed none, but he would quickly come to learn that Eira had to try things herself first. She was a highly tactile learner.

"What good is a blade I can't open?" She whispered. Her blunt words by themselves were ungrateful, but the inquisitive tilt to her gaze made it clear that this was very much a serious question. She could feel the device pulse with life, something inside of it responding to her. No button had presented itself to her, providing an easy leap of conclusions.

She had to use the force on this.

She was intrigued, in an almost obsessive way, on how the force could tie into the combat training she also knew so well.

He'd feel her reach out to her, legitimate but still raw attempts to manipulate it with the force occurring. Eira hadn't even trained for a year yet. They'd both be lucky if she didn't spear them through here and now.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“It’s as good as you need, right now.”, he offered to her.​

​

With that, he moved quietly to sit down once more, though he passively unlocked the door without mentioning it. Soon, when she was ready to leave, she would find it entirely free for her to leave; as Maliphant had found a second wind in his ‘generosity’ thus far. He couldn’t help but feel that overwhelming sadness Srina had once given him on Ryloth.​

​

How deeply it had engrained itself into his soul through their bond. He frowned at it, and could feel that same sadness - though softer - through Eira. Something bothered her deeper than what he or Srina could offer; but time would be the only thing that could help her now.​

​

“Just point it away from yourself when you ignite it. I have no doubt you’ll be able to soon.”, Maliphant offered with a quiet smile.​

​

Eira Talon​

 

[Eira Talon]

He received no words of acknowledgment, her features fluttering in a subtle tick of appreciation and understanding. Words to her were often just wasted space. She was use to Eshan, where small moments like this were read and understand by the Echani around her.

Maliphant was left to his own devices; she continued to pour over it, absorbed in growing acstome to the device in her hands. He unlocked the door. Her gaze snapped up for a brief moment, sensing the change. So he no longer considered her a threat to hold up. Understood. She turned the saber in her hands for a second more, taking her time to gather herself. She was in no rush to return back to the hot outdoors.

But in the end, it had to be done.

She stood, sparing him a glance. “... I’ll duck faster next time,” she vowed. And with no other words, she padded out, a touch of Srina’s capable walk to her back as she slipped out the door.

She would be just fine. She had to be.